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The First 25 Years

As early as 1899, "every thing was up to date in Kansas City" in more ways than social style. Kansas City had more high school scholars in proportion to its population than any city in the federal union. Several chemists from industry, University of Missouri, and the University of Kansas met in 1899 to discuss current problems and issues. Some of the industries in Kansas City at the time were Meat Packing Plants generating 3.5 million carcasses a year, Flour Mills producing 2 million barrels of flour a year (second only to Buffalo), Bolt and Nut Company, the largest Smelter and Refinery plant in the world for gold, silver, lead and zinc, Oil Refineries, and the Cook Paint Company. A common topic was a decision to join the national organization of the American Chemical Society (ACS,1876). In November 1899, a group of 20 chemists signed and sent a letter to National ACS requesting to be a local section. In January 1900, the Kansas City Section was officially accepted as the 13th local section in the organization. In 1901 in the Kansas City Star and Times, an article was published in the social column. The announcement stated that "a charter was recently granted to the chemists for the Kansas City Section of the American Chemical Society, America’s national organization of chemists. The territory of the Kansas City section (was to) include those portions of the states of Missouri and Kansas between the 93rd and 98th meridians." Essentially, the Kansas City Section included most of Missouri and half of Kansas, and was the first section of the national organization west of the Mississippi River. Beginning in 1900, the local section met once a month on a Saturday for a day of technical sharing. The atmosphere of the original meetings was joint problem solving. Each meeting consisted of three or four presentations of current problems followed by "lively discussions", usually brainstorming of possible solutions by all the attendees. "The loose organization of the Society at the time, Kansas City’s location on the edge of the prairie, far from the centers of scientific culture, and the state of transportation and communication int he 1900s, which now seems primitive, necessitated a great deal of self-dependence. Through the first decade and most of the second, the section remained a Society-in-miniature, held together by mutual interests of the members. Meetings centered around the presentation of papers by one or more members of the section and the discussion of these papers by the others. Both academic and industrial members shared an interest in the chemistry related to the development of this area’s natural resources and problems in the community with which chemists could be concerned. Although the academic group would from time to time present papers on philosophical and scientific matters, these topics were discussed on the basis of mutual interests and did not create a town-and-gown separation. Each member simply offered to the others knowledge that stemmed from his special interests." (Excerpted from The Kansas City Section: A Society of Chemists, 1900-1925, published in 1976, Larry Breed (ed.)) The meetings alternated between Kansas City and Lawrence. At that time the train ran between the two cities twice a day. Because of the limited transportation, the meetings tended to be at hotels across from the train station. At that time, Union Avenue was described as a great "honky-tonk" with "rows of saloons and businesses in knickknacks" and the Blossom House (usual place for the meeting) as the "scene of many political intrigues." In fact, the minutes for one of the meetings observed that "the train being late, the social part of the program was much longer than usual". One of the original signers of the Kansas City Section Charter was Dr. Edward C. Franklin. Dr. Franklin performed research on ammonium system of compounds. He is not so famous for his research, but for the student who studied under him at the time of the formation of the section. A young gentleman by the name of Hamilton P. Cady studied under Dr. Franklin, and continued Dr. Franklin’s research. It was the innovative, new Dr. Cady who discovered helium which was present in the natural gas. Dr. Cady continued teaching and was one of the first to introduce physical-chemical principles into the general science courses. The first national ACS meeting held in Kansas City was in 1917. The records show the 382 attendees were registered for the meeting. The budget for the meeting was $1500-$2000. At the end of the meeting, there was $1000 surplus which was used to sponsor a French war orphan. The war orphan was a young girl whom the Kansas City section sponsored until 1926.

The Second 25 Years

The major event in the second 25 years was the formation of Linda Hall Library. Prior to the establishment of this technical library, most researchers had to write to the east coast, and have the references shipped to Kansas City. The references, if on loan, would have to be returned within the week. Of course, this posed a hindrance to the researchers in the area. Therefore, the local section together with the industries of Kansas City joined and formed the technical library. In addition, the Pittsburg, Manhattan, and Wichita sections were carved from Kansas City’s territory during this period. The atmosphere changed from an early vitality to a rapid growth with the influence of a rapidly growing industrial base.

The Third 25 Years

The third 25 years are best characterized by the establishment of the large research laboratories-- Midwest Research Institute, the Spencer Chemical Company (later Gulf), and the Chemagro Corporation (later Baychem, Mobay, Bayer) and Marion Labs (Hoechst Marion Roussel).

The Most Recent Years

In the most recent years the Kansas City Section has grown to be classified as a medium large section with a large portion of active members. The active members participate in a number of specialty organizations along with the ACS. In the last 15 years, the Kansas City Section has been runner-up or winner of the best section within it’s size category. The many activities include Awards for members, students, and teacher as well as demonstrations for schools and general public, A nationally recognized award (Spencer Award) for accomplishments in agricultural and food chemistry, Funding for disadvantaged high school students (SEED), Informative monthly meetings, Sponsorship of teachers to regional and national ACS meetings, and much, much more!  We are now over 100 years old and we are always looking for help in filling in the details for the last 75 plus years. If you have some information about the KC Section of the ACS please contact me....Gary Clapp geclapp424@yahoo.com

Cannabis and Hemp are certainly hot topics throughout the country. As an example of the excitement being generated, Kansas is potentially positioning itself as the hemp growing capital of the US and using hemp as a savior to the agricultural community. But, with any new consumable commodity, quality matters must be considered. LC-MS/MS has been promoted by some as the only instrument needed for a suite of cannabis analyses including potency, aflatoxins, pesticides, terpenes, etc. While LC-MS/MS is a powerful tool, it alone cannot perform all of the required analyses to the needs expressed by many state regulations. Furthermore, operational costs for LC-MS/MS are much higher than more conventional HPLC analysis. Precision and accuracy are known to degrade, which requires more frequent calibration, and changing sources. For many cannabis laboratory operations, it is more efficient to use a low cost HPLC for potency and mycotoxins, than an LC-MS/MS. Pesticides that are difficult to analyze by LC-MS/MS, can be easily analyzed by GC-MS/MS. LC-MS/MS typically only measures 6 aromatic terpenes, but with interference from co-eluting terpenes; GC or GC-MS methods have been used to measure more than 36 terpene compounds by headspace analysis, as well as residual solvents.

This presentation will examine the different technologies that have been used to successfully meet rigorous state regulations for cannabis analysis.

Cannabis and Hemp are certainly hot topics throughout the country. As an example of the excitement being generated, Kansas is potentially positioning itself as the hemp growing capital of the US and using hemp as a savior to the agricultural community. But, with any new consumable commodity, quality matters must be considered. LC-MS/MS has been promoted by some as the only instrument needed for a suite of cannabis analyses including potency, aflatoxins, pesticides, terpenes, etc. While LC-MS/MS is a powerful tool, it alone cannot perform all of the required analyses to the needs expressed by many state regulations. Furthermore, operational costs for LC-MS/MS are much higher than more conventional HPLC analysis. Precision and accuracy are known to degrade, which requires more frequent calibration, and changing sources. For many cannabis laboratory operations, it is more efficient to use a low cost HPLC for potency and mycotoxins, than an LC-MS/MS. Pesticides that are difficult to analyze by LC-MS/MS, can be easily analyzed by GC-MS/MS. LC-MS/MS typically only measures 6 aromatic terpenes, but with interference from co-eluting terpenes; GC or GC-MS methods have been used to measure more than 36 terpene compounds by headspace analysis, as well as residual solvents.

This presentation will examine the different technologies that have been used to successfully meet rigorous state regulations for cannabis analysis.